Chelsea have spent the most (£1.57bn) to try to catch up with the likes of Manchester City. But it could be construed as creating a slightly misleading picture in terms of net spend on the first team. Manchester United have the worst of all worlds: a high spend, a low return in transfers and disappointing results on the pitch. That places them second in net spend (£674.3m). This could also be said of Arsenal, who are third in net spend (£610.1m) but they have the lowest outgoing sales of the top clubs - just £184.2m.

Source: BBC February 04, 2026 16:46 UTC